PARIS (AP) - French prosecutors have placed the publisher and photographer of unauthorized topless snaps of Prince William's wife, Kate, under formal criminal investigation, they said Thursday.
Caroline Chassain, spokeswoman for the Nanterre prosecutor, said that Mondadori Magazines France and local photographer Valerie Suau were placed under investigation earlier this month over possible criminal exploitation of the images, which appeared in the French Closer magazine last September.
The photos showed the duchess of Cambridge relaxing at a private villa in Provence, in southern France, sometimes without her bikini top and, in one case, her suit bottom partially pulled down to apply sunscreen.
Chassain added that Suau's employer, local newspaper La Provence, was also placed under formal criminal investigation on Monday, but she did not elaborate.
The investigation will likely take months to complete.
